Gohar Ali Khan, a soft-spoken lawyer who has represented Imran Khan ins several cases, was elected unopposed as the PTI chairman as nobody filed a nomination against him

Pakistan News: Barrister Gohar Ali Khan– a ardent supporter and lawyer of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan– was Saturday elected as the new chairman of the cricket legend’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), days ahead of expiry of a deadline issued to the party by the country’s top poll body directing it to hold organisational polls in order to retain ‘bat’ as its election symbol.

This is the first time since the PTI– found in 1996 by Imran Khan during his early foray into politics– has picked anyone else other than the cricketer-turned-politician as its chairman.

Gohar, a soft-spoken lawyer who has represented Imran Khan ins several cases, was elected unopposed as the PTI chairman as nobody filed a nomination against him in the intra-party elections held in the north-western city of Peshawar, considered a stronghold of the party.

Scenes of arrival and reception of the newly elected Chairman PTI Barrister Gohar Ali Khan in Peshawar!!@TeamiPians #قید_میں_بیٹھا_آزاد_شخص #KPStandWithIK
pic.twitter.com/lMlN6jSrsn

— Fawad Khanⁱᴾⁱᵃⁿ (@intofawadkhan5) December 2, 2023

Gohar, 45, was hand-picked by incarcerated Imran Khan after consultation with his loyalist lawyers who frequently meet him in jail where he has been kept since being arrested on August 5 after conviction in the Toshakhana case. Khan himself avoided filing the nomination due to conviction and disqualification.

Today, family politics has been buried once for all by PTI. An extraordinary example of democratic process set in today’s intra party polls. Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, a senior lawyer and party activist, has been elected as new Chairman PTI 🤍✨ pic.twitter.com/Sn4mExriOc

— Ahmed Rasool (@ahmedrasool__) December 2, 2023

The organisational elections were necessitated on the directives of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that had given a 20-day time frame to the PTI on November 23 to retain the bat’ as its electoral symbol, ahead of general elections scheduled to be held on February 8.

Political observers considered the move to launch Gohar, a relatively unfamiliar face in the political arena, as most astonishing, especially when the party needed a strong experienced hand to steer it safely through the rough waters in the absence of Khan.

My People My strength. My Supporters My Strength. A huge crowd of PTI workers with Faisal Khan Tarakai. pic.twitter.com/lQHknuyu2f

— Barrister Gohar Fan (@GoharAliKhanPTI) December 2, 2023

However, the fact that he is just a stop-gap arrangement and was appointed as chairman to avoid legal complications would remain his main vulnerability. It means that for every key decision, he would look up to Khan for approval.

Who is Gohar Ali Khan?

According to his website, Gohar Khan is an advocate of the Supreme Court and appears in all High Courts. He is a law graduate from Wolverhampton University, UK with LL.M from Washington School of Law, USA.

Gohar had once followed the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and contested the election from its platform in 2008, which he lost. After the setback, he moved away from politics and concentrated on his practice as a lawyer. He was associated with the chamber of Aitizaz Ahsan, who is a leading lawyer and leader of the PPP.

An ethnic Pashtun, the new PTI chief hails from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province and his nomination is being looked at as an effort to keep the Pashtun support base of the party intact. A reason why the intra-party elections were held in Peshawar instead of the usual Lahore or Islamabad as chosen venues for such activities.

‘Imran Khan’s chosen’

Speaking with journalists at Peshawar after his election, Gohar said he would try to fulfil his responsibility as Khan’s representative. “When elections take place, we will defeat everyone,” Gohar said.

He also criticised the ECP by saying that at least 175 political parties functioning in the country have been providing details of their intra-party polls since 1960. “However, none of these polls have been scrutinised as closely as those of the PTI.”

Omar Ayub Khan elected PTI secretary-general

Meanwhile, PTI also elected unopposed Omer Ayub Khan as its secretary-general. Also, Munir Ahmed Baloch was elected as the party president of Balochistan; Haleem Adil Sheikh of Sindh; Ali Amin Gandapur of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Dr Yasmin Rashid as the party’s Punjab president.

Gohar’s election, even when unopposed, did not happen without friction and indicated that he would have to deal with old party leaders who were overlooked for the key post.

Akbar S. Babar, one of the founding members of PTI, had rejected his candidature calling it “selection instead of an election”. He said that Gohar’s nomination had raised serious questions about the transparency and credibility of the entire PTI intra-party elections.

Similarly, Gohar would have to deal with tough political opponents, especially, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), whose spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb reacting to his election said it was a selection, not an election. “Once again, the PTI has been involved in a selection all in 15 minutes,” she said.

Soon after, PTI’s official X handle tweeted in Urdu, which loosely translated reads as: “With what mouth those who came to power through behind-the-scenes agreements and secret deals are talking about the transparency of elections.”

“History is a witness that PML-N, the pioneer of hereditary politics, never let the Sharif family go out from the central positions of the party to the ministries,” it added.

With the general elections little more than two months away, political parties in Pakistan have upped their games with campaigns across the country. Imran Khan and his party have maintained that the ECP’s action was an attempt to keep them away from the polls, and yet another example of not offering a level playing field.

(With PTI inputs)